TURN OF EVENTS. Oddities from around the world.

Butts On The Beach

Anti-smoking laws make California's bars and restaurants among the cleanest in America, but a recent study said those laws are contributing to turning the state's beaches into a giant, sandy ashtray.

The California Coastal Commission, in a statewide study, detailed the results of a coastal cleanup day last September during which volunteers collected 333,876 cigarette butts, up about 40 percent from the 237,709 collected at the same event in 1997.

"As California increases the number of laws requiring smokers to go outside to smoke, it's no surprise that cigarettes continue to be the No. 1 item" found discarded on beaches, said Becky Steckler of the commission.